Around the NSL: Rapid on top; Battle for second; Week 11 kicks off Saturday

IT’S footy mayhem in this country at the moment.

Between covering the relentless men’s FIFA World Cup schedule and making time to watch the Northern Super League, yours truly has had a whirlwind three weeks (with 16 more days to go).

This edition is brief, but here are storylines from the week that was around the NSL.

Highlight of the week

After a momentous start for the Montreal Roses, the Ottawa Rapid have proven they are the real deal. In the early game last Thursday, the Rapid took firm hold of first place with a gritty 2-1 road win thanks to the mitts of goalkeeper Melissa Dagenais.

Dagenais survived a barrage of 17 shots sent in her direction, letting in one of the four on target — a late Elyse Bennett boot. The forward’s sixth of the season tied the Rapid’s Daleney Baie Pridham for the goal-scoring lead. (This should be a fun race to watch over the season.)

Keera Melenhorst and Melanie Forbes got balls past Anna Karpenko in the first and second half, respectively. The Roses have dropped two games and drew two more in the last five, while the Rapid have won three of its past five. And the race for second is just starting to logjam.

Race for second overall heats up

The Roses sit four points behind the Rapid on 15 points. The Halifax Tides, thanks to a 1-0 win over the Calgary Wild last Saturday are nipping at Montreal’s heels with 14 points.

And Halifax is being chased by AFC Toronto, who sit fourth with 12 points (after beating the Rise 3-1 in last Saturday’s second game).

Even Vancouver is rising with 10 points — not that far out of the picture in fifth place.

With the halfway mark of the regular-season just around the corner, it still feels like anyone’s to take (although the Wild will have to do some heavy lifting to catch up).

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Game(s) to watch in Week 11

There’s a full slate of games that kick off Saturday — conveniently after the Canada-Morocco match. And with the standings crunched, it will be fun to see what jostling happens in Week 11.

Montreal hosts the Vancouver Rise at Stade Boréale on Saturday (2:30 p.m. CT, TSN+). The Rapid host the struggling Calgary Wild in Sunday’s first game (1 p.m. CT, TSN+) before Halifax hosts the Mighty Maroons an hour later at the Wanderers grounds (2 p.m. CT, CBC Gem).

Will the Roses gain back ground on the Rapid? Will the Wild manage to pull off a win against league-leading Ottawa? And who will end up above the other in the standings between Toronto and the Tides? You’ll just have to watch.

winnipegfreepress.com/graceannepaizen

Grace Anne Paizen
Sports Editor

Grace oversees the team that produces sports journalism for the Free Press.